David tried to open his eyes. It felt like they were stuck together. Eventually he managed to open them. He looked around. He was surrounded by other ponies, much smaller and more colourful than him. Some had horns or wings. They were all ignoring him. In the distance he could see what looked like a giant soap bubble.
David tried to move around but his hooves were stuck to the ground. He looked down and saw that his whole body was transparent. 'That must be why they are ignoring me,' he said to himself, 'Because they can't see me.'
Suddenly there was an explosion in the direction of the bubble. All the ponies and some humans that were wandering about turned around in shock. David looked back at the bubble. Where it used to be, there was a giant ball of light that was expanding rapidly. It got brighter and brighter until David had to close his eyes. Suddenly, there was a much larger explosion, then silence.
David opened his eyes. Where the ball had been, there was a huge crater. All the people and ponies around him were murmuring. Suddenly, it seemed as if someone had pressed fast forward. David watched as the months passed by, the other ponies' magic fading, their colours becoming duller. Eventually, they lost their magic, unicorns lost their horns, pegasai lost their wings, and earth ponies lost their strength and plant growing powers, they all lost their bright colours, and grew closer to the size of a regular farm horse, just like David.
Everything went black. When David could see again, he could see his old human self, as the serum got poured down his mouth. He could see as his skin turned white, like dough, his body grow larger and change shape.
Now he was in his stable, looking at his sleeping self. Someone banged at the door and called something out. His sleeping self stirred.
*****
'Hey, get up! It's time for you to get trained! Get the hell up!'
David groaned. There was another bang at the door, which fully woke up David. 'I'm up! I'm up!' he said.
'Good,' said the human, 'Now, I'm gonna take you to the trainer, don't struggle, or you'll be horsemeat.'
David waited as the human put the reins around his muzzle and the saddle on his back. The human led him towards a fenced of area.
'Now,' the human said, 'I don't want to do this, but the trainer says I have to. He says that I have to let you do whatever shit you need to do, if you know what I mean. So you go do that while we wait for him, and don't cause any trouble.' The human put David in the enclosure and took his reins off.
David did what he needed to do and went back towards the human. 'Okay.' The human put the reins back on David. 'I can see the trainer over there, so I'll leave you here.' The human fastened his reins to the fence and walked away. David turned to where the human was pointing to see another human walking towards him.
'Well howdy there!' The human spoke in a Southern drawl, which was rare nowadays. 'Name's William, but ya' can just call me Ol' Bill.' Bill leaned over and whispered in David's ear. 'Ah' kinda feel sorry for ya' guys, being forced to be an animal and all. So here, ah've' got something for ya'.' Bill held out his hand. In it was a red apple, which was becoming common these days.
David bit into the apple. Instantly he was hit with sensations he had never had before. To him, it seemed as if the taste of the apple was life itself. It was as if the apple was the only thing in existence, and that nothing existed without it. Nothing else mattered in that moment but the apple. As the sensation faded, he noticed he had eaten the whole apple, even the core. Apparently, he was capable of digesting apple cores. Interesting. David noticed Ol' Bill grinning.
'Alla' them have that reaction. Ah' can't even begin to imagine what it must be like. I wish ah' had tastes like that.' A look of sorrow crossed Bill's face. But it soon was replaced by a smile. 'Well, time to get training.' Bill unfastened the reins. 'First, ya' gotta get used ta' people climbing onto ya' back. Try and not move too much.' Bill starting climbing onto the saddle. David flinched, but tried to keep still as Bill said. 'There ya' go. Now, if someone does this' – Bill gave David a light kick on the side – 'that means start moving. Let's do that again.' Bill gave another light kick. David started walking. 'Good, now let's go a bit faster. If someone does this' – Bill gave a slightly harder kick – 'That means go faster.' David moved into a trot. 'There, I think you're getting the hang of this! Now, if someone pulls left or right on the reins, go in that direction.' David and Bill practiced that for a while. At first, David made a few mistakes but soon enough he got the hang of it.
'Okay, there is one last thing for me to teach you today. If someone pulls back on the reins, it means slow down or stop.' Bill pulled on the reins, and David slowed down and eventually stopped. 'Very good!' Bill looked genuinely proud. 'Let's do a bit more practicing, then I'll take you back to your stable.'
After about half an hour of practicing, Bill took David back to his stable. As he removed the saddle and reins, he talked to David. 'Thanks for being so well behaved. Ah' love teaching Newfoals, except for when they're fussy. I hate fussy Newfoals.' After Bill finished putting away the gear, he turned and smiled at David. 'It was fun teaching you. Ah' can't wait till our next session!' Bill closed the stable door, and David could hear him walking away. He smiled to himself. Bill was probably the only decent human being David had met so far.
Suddenly, he could hear the sound of humans struggling. He leaned on the stable door and looked over it.
Near the door, there were three humans holding a struggling mare. The mare was much smaller than normal, and had a lavender coat and a blue-ish purple mane and tail with a streak of pink and dark-ish purple. But the thing that David was focused on was the horn on her head.